Integrated Pest Management for Varroa – Why Rotation Matters Now, More Than Ever

It’s a term most beekeepers would have heard often ‘integrated pest management’ (IPM), but what does it actually mean and what does it look like in practice, in the hives? Vita Bee Health commercial director Sebastian Owen not only has the simple, clear and concise answers to those questions, but explains how the world-leading bee health company’s range of products can form a reliable IPM strategy.

By Sebastian Owen

Apistan. The tau-fluvalinate treatment for varroa can provide the foundation for an effective integrated pest management plan for varroa. 

For New Zealand beekeepers, varroa is no longer a new threat; it is a permanent biological pressure that must be managed with precision. The central lesson from decades of work in Europe and North America is straightforward: no single treatment should be expected to carry the full burden of control. Effective varroa management depends on an integrated management programme built around monitoring, correct timing, and rotation between products with different active ingredients and modes of action.

IPM is not simply “using more than one product”; it is using the right product at the right time, based on colony condition and mite load, while reducing the genetic selection that will develop and enable the mites to become resistant to a particular treatment.

Repeated reliance on one chemical class, especially over multiple seasons, encourages survival of the mites least affected by that treatment. Those mites reproduce, efficacy falls, and colony losses become more likely. Product rotation is therefore not an optional extra; it is one of the main tools we have for preserving treatment longevity.

With its European and North American experience of the mite, Vita Bee Health provides beekeepers in New Zealand with practical options for a rational rotation strategy.

Apistan

Apistan, based on tau-fluvalinate, remains a very easy-to-use and familiar benchmark treatment. While it has been overused and misused in some areas leading to (temporary) resistance developing, Apistan can still perform very well. However, because it is a pyrethroid, it should not be used season after season without alternation. Used thoughtfully within an IPM programme, rather than repeatedly as a default, it retains real value.

Apiguard

Apiguard offers a different approach. Its active ingredient, thymol, is delivered in a patented slow-release gel, giving a distinct mode of action from strip treatments. It has become an important partner in IPM programmes because it broadens the treatment toolkit and helps reduce dependence on one mode of action. In addition, its residue profile and ease of use have made it widely accepted by beekeepers looking for robust control, along with the holistic benefits afforded by Apiguard’s stimulation of hygienic behaviour among bees and its additional action against fungal, viral and bacterial diseases.

In regulatory terms, the European Commission is unconcerned about its maximum residue level because its toxicity and residue profiles are so low.

A registered, effective and long-acting oxalic acid treatment for varroa mites? ‘You got it!’ said Vita Bee Health in 2025 and now, VarroxSan is available through Ceracell Beekeeping Supplies.  

VarroxSan

VarroxSan, a new product, is very timely, especially for New Zealand beekeepers. VarroxSan is an oxalic acid treatment presented in slow-release strips, designed to provide a consistent dose over an extended period covering multiple varroa life cycles. VarroxSan is highly effective, easy to apply, not temperature dependent, and accredited for use in organic beekeeping.

The overall practical message is clear: monitor mite levels regularly, treat before colonies are overwhelmed, follow label instructions, and rotate between treatment types rather than repeating the same chemistry.

For New Zealand conditions, the combined availability of Apistan, Apiguard and now VarroxSan means beekeepers can build a more resilient varroa-control programme than was previously possible. In varroa management, success is rarely about finding a single “best” product. It is about using good products intelligently, in sequence, to protect both current colonies and the long-term usefulness of the treatments themselves.

Apistan is available through a wide range of beekeeping suppliers, and along with Apiguard and VarroxSan all are available through Ceracell Beekeeping Supplies, www.ceracell.co.nz. The full range of Vita Bee Health products can be viewed at www.vita-europe.com/beehealth/products/

Sebastian Owen has worked for Vita Bee Health since 2011 and is currently commercial director, helping distribute varroa management and honey bee heath products to more than 50 countries.